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Topic: Today Valençay day ! (Read 8025 times)

Herman, I think I have a white thumb. (in the Netherlands do they say a gardener has a green thumb? Or is that expression only here?). Anyway, my little Valencay are so white they look like a snow storm and that was days ago. Which PC strain did you use? I think I posted photos on my thread but am not sure.....

Yours will be very tasty I'm sure and less likely to get slip skin. Some mine did get this because the temp did not stay at the proper temperature. I need a real cheese cave....sigh.

Yeah, we know that expression here as well!I'm using PC Neige, which is strong indeed. I removed the lid of the container to lower the RH and the cave is about 53F and pretty stable on that temperature (thanks to an external thermostate). I'm checking and turning them every day.I bought a big second hand fridge for about $30 and the thermostate was about $100 and I think it was worth every penny.

My problem is that I outgrew he wine fridge so quickly and then moved into a spare room with using a window to let in winter cold air to chill the room but every time we have a guest the cheeses have to taken out and put on my workbench in a room that is not cold enough. I am starting to think of a real cheese cave....well, not real like a cave but perhaps a shipping container buried underground. We need a root cellar anyway to store roots, winter squash and fruit.

Well, personally I would turn that around: Have a container buried to use for wine and other stuff and use the wine fridge for the cheeses. Reason for that is simple: Wine is stored in glass and molds are not a problem for glass. A fridge is easy to clean so you can prevent the cheeses for unwanted molds, which will be much harder in a buried container. I guess you're making the wine yourself? Grapes and/or fruits? Used to do that several years ago, but two young children are taking up the space I had for my fermentation glasses

Okay, it's two weeks after making them and according to the recipe it's time to wrap them. And I agree. The rind is nicely covered with PC, when I tab them the charcoal is shining through and they have a nice fresh smell. I think I will cut the first next Tuesday...

Well, personally I would turn that around: Have a container buried to use for wine and other stuff and use the wine fridge for the cheeses. Reason for that is simple: Wine is stored in glass and molds are not a problem for glass. A fridge is easy to clean so you can prevent the cheeses for unwanted molds, which will be much harder in a buried container. I guess you're making the wine yourself? Grapes and/or fruits? Used to do that several years ago, but two young children are taking up the space I had for my fermentation glasses

Actually we don't make wine.....I bought it just for the cheese and it is a 44 bottle size bit filled with cheese quickly it was scary!

I don't know the exact dimensions for shipping containers but I am thinking of 20x12' or bigger. I need lots of shelves.....I really do make a fair amount of cheese even with these small batches. I have about 10 full wheels aging and always lots of the PC style cheeses. Shelving would be nice. Even if I had to keep many or all of them in mini cave boxes to control RH it would still be worth it to have enough space at a constant temperature. Then I could use the wine fridge for a few oddball cheeses with different requirements.

Hurray ! Yesterday I brought a Cambozola, a Reblochon and a Valençay to the office, because a colleague from Barcelona was visiting and I had promised him he could taste some of my cheese. He is a hobby cook, beer maker and wine maker and is thinking about making cheese.It turned after working hours into a spontaneous party with a couple of bottles of wine, some beer and about 2 kilo's of cheese that was finished in no-time. The Valençay was delicious: Young, fresh, goaty but not too much, nice thin rind with a very thin layer of ash and no, I don't have pictures. But I have still 3 Valençay left.Everybody loved the cheeses....

Hey hoeklijn!! if you have a friend from Barcelona who is thinking in cheese making, I would like to contact with this person, so I'm catalan too, and here is not many people doing home made cheese. Could you ask him if can I get his e-mail?I'm always finding home cheesemakers in my country, but never founding...

LOL, Alberto, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you: My colleague from Barcelona is an American who is stationed in Barcelona for only a short term and then he will return and settle somewhere in MA probably. He already told me he will wait with making cheese until he returns, also because he has no clue where to get fresh milk in Barcelona. But maybe we can convince him to start if you have access to fresh milk???